The Central Reinsurance Fund (CCR) estimated on Wednesday at 550 million euros the cost of floods covered under the natural disaster regime in Hauts-de-France, at least half of which is borne by it.
“This is an extremely important event, exceptional on the scale of the affected departments,” Edouard Vieillefond, general director of the public reinsurer, told AFP.
Pas-de-Calais was affected for more than two weeks by repeated flooding, which began with the passage of storm Ciaran.
They have caused five minor injuries since November 6, and very significant material damage.
The invoice announced by the CCR, which applies to the entire insurance market, is a first estimate, which may be revised.
Insurers say they are mobilizing: on Monday, their professional federation invited its members to pay affected policyholders an advance in the days following the request for a deposit after an initial assessment.
It must be said that the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire had called on insurers a few hours earlier not to “nitpick”.
In Pas-de-Calais, only one river, the Canche, remains on orange alert for the risk of flooding on Wednesday and should remain so on Thursday. The decline is in progress, but it is “slow” and “significant overflows can still be observed”, according to Vigicrues.
The Aa, which had been heavily overflowed in recent days, is now classified in green, the Hem in yellow.
The total cost of claims – earthquake, drought, other floods or submersion alongside storms… – exceeds one billion euros this year for the CCR, or more or less the premiums received in this respect.
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The regime dedicated to natural disasters has been in deficit 6 of the last 7 years and has had to draw on its reserves, which increased from around 4.5 billion euros in 2016 to 2 billion euros at the start of the year, recalls Mr. Vieillefond.
This chronic deficit of the system raises the question of its financing, today through a 12% surcharge on home insurance contracts.
The professional federation France Assureurs voted in mid-October for an increase to 18% of this additional premium. The CCR leans in favor of an increase to 19% initially and to 22% by 2050.
“Catastrophic events are becoming more and more frequent with increasingly strong intensities, what was catastrophic twenty years ago is becoming almost recurrent and we are preparing for worse in twenty years with global warming,” said Mr. Vieillefond. .